Rick Upchurch is inducted into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame during halftime of a 2014 game against the Chiefs. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)

For Broncos Ring of Famer Rick Upchurch, cannabidiol (CBD) isn’t just an alternative pain-reliever, as it is for many other former players. The nonpsychoactive compound, one of nearly 100 found in cannabis, has helped him counter the side effects of cancer treatment and achieve remission.

“Without a doubt,” he said. “Otherwise, I would be in bad shape, I really would.”

At the 2015 NFL draft in Chicago, the former receiver and punt returner (1975-83) revealed his battle with leukemia, a diagnosis he received in 2011 after a bone marrow biopsy confirmed doctors’ suspicions and tied together the various symptoms he had been experiencing: The fatigue. The aches. The cold sweats at night. The bruising.

Upchurch was ordered to immediately begin chemotherapy treatment. Three pills a day, every day. His energy level plummeted. His immune system was sapped. His appetite disappeared and his food tasted like metal. Boils broke out all over his body — a reaction to the chemo — and soon his hair fell out.

Annabel Bowlen walks onto the field for the Ring of Fame ceremony for her husband and longtime Broncos owner Pat Bowlen. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)

This one really was for Pat.

To cap a week-long celebration of Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, coach Gary Kubiak reciprocated a gesture that will forever remain etched in Broncos lore. After Sunday’s 29-10 victory over the Packers, Kubiak awarded the game ball to Bowlen’s wife Annabel on her husband’s behalf, much like Pat handed of the Lombardi Trophy to John Elway following the 1997 Super Bowl victory.

Dozens of former players were on hand to celebrate Bowlen, who was inducted as the 28th member of the Broncos’ Ring of Fame during halftime of the game.

“Now that he’s in the Denver Broncos’ Ring of Fame,” Annabel told a cheering crowd of more than 77,000 at halftime, “I think we can all agree that Pat’s next stop should be the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”

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More than 40 members of the 1997 Super Bowl team and about 20 members of the Ring of Fame have flocked to Denver this weekend to take part in the celebration of owner Pat Bowlen. On Saturday, many of those former players attended the Broncos’ final practice before Sunday’s game against the 6-0 Packers.

Safety David Bruton addressed the past players on behalf of the 2015 team. And Rod Smith, the team’s all-time leading receiver, spoke to the current players.

Smith reflected on his time playing for Bowlen, and encouraged the current players to keep their focus and take pride in playing for “one of the best people in sports” in coach Gary Kubiak.

“You’re going to build something special. It’s already special. I know y’all can taste it. You’re 6-0 and you ain’t even playing good,” he said, drawing a roar of laughs. “Wait ’til you start playing good.”

More than 35 Broncos alumni are expected to gather in the Mile High City this weekend in honor of Pat Bowlen’s Ring of Fame induction ceremony at halftime of Sunday’s Broncos-Packers game.

The battle of undefeateds will be a throwback to the Super Bowl XXXII matchup that landed Bowlen his first world championship and featured two of the game’s top quarterbacks, in Brett Favre and John Elway. But Sunday’s game also serves as a benchmark for the future of the 2015 Broncos, who face their toughest test yet in Aaron Rodgers’ 6-0 Packers.

The Broncos now star an aggressive defense that has carried them to a 6-0 start, scoring four defensive touchdowns and recording 17 takeaways that have led to 51 points. Although the offense showed improvement in its Week 6 victory over the Browns, it is still very much a work in progress as Peyton Manning and Co. adjust to Gary Kubiak’s system.

Terrell Davis, the Super Bowl XXXII MVP and a Broncos Ring of Famer, can see that. He can also hear all the criticism surrounding Manning.

“People obviously talk about Peyton Manning, how he’s lost it,” said Davis, who arrived in Denver early for the NFL’s “On the Fifty” apparel event Thursday in Lone Tree that is part of the league’s season-long lead-up to Super Bowl 50. “Peyton Manning is 39 years old. There’s going to be a day, and maybe that day has come already. This might be the new normal for him. This might be who he is.”

After racking up 1,750 rushing yards and a league-high 15 rushing touchdowns in 1997, Davis piled on 157 yards and became the first player in Super Bowl history to score three touchdowns as the Broncos defeated the Packers, 31-24, for the title.

He followed it up the next season with 2,008 rushing yards and 23 total touchdowns — good enough for the league MVP award — before claiming another Super Bowl title with the Broncos, in 1998.

Davis, one of Mike Shanahan’s first draft picks as head coach of the Broncos, in 1995, spent his entire seven-year NFL career with the team and is its all-time leading rusher, with 7,607 yards and 60 touchdowns.

As a force on the ground, he was also a part of offenses that featured an elite quarterback in Elway and elite receivers in Rod Smith, Ed McCaffrey and tight end Shannon Sharpe.

The balance Kubiak had some 17 years ago, as Denver’s offensive coordinator in the final seasons of Elway’s career, is one he had hoped to replicate for Manning this year. The zone-blocking offense was installed in an effort to boost the run game, which would take some pressure off Manning.

But the transition hasn’t been smooth, or easy. And Davis knows they have a ways to go.

“They’re trying to find their way,” Davis said. “Defensively, you could say that’s who they are. But I know that’s not who they want to be. But at the same token, they’re 6-0, they’ve won all their games, they’re still trying get better, still trying to improve in certain areas, trying to eventually get to who they are. But that’s going to take time.”

Peyton Manning throwing his 509th career touchdown pass against the 49ers last season. (Tim Rasmussen, The Denver Post)

The Broncos are going big for Pat Bowlen’s Ring of Fame induction on Nov. 1, when the team hosts the Green Bay Packers.

The Broncos will break out their blue tops, the team announced Thursday. But instead of matching them with the blue pants, they’ll bring back the white pants with orange stripes, a throw back to the uniforms they wore when they won Super Bowl XXXII in 1998.

John Elway and the Broncos beat the Packers 31-24 at Super Bowl XXXII on Jan. 25, 1998. (Denver Post file)

Many members of that Super Bowl team are expected to be in attendance for the Packers game to honor Bowlen as he becomes the 28th member of the Ring of Fame.

On Dec. 13, when they host the Raiders, the Broncos will bring back their all-blue ensemble, an outfit they have not worn against Oakland since 2010.Read more…

The Broncos’ all-time leading rusher and Ring of Famer attended Saturday’s practice for NFL Network, but any time Terrell Davis returns to Broncos Country, it’s about much more.

He spoke to his former quarterback and now general manager, John Elway. He spoke to receiver Demaryius Thomas. He watched practice alongside players and coaches, catching a front-row glimpse of Peyton Manning rolling out. And he saw his former offensive coordinator, Gary Kubiak, running the show.

Afterward, Davis opened up about the team, Kubiak’s offense and how it will work with Manning, his days with Elway and much more. Some highlights:

When Terrell Davis heard that owner Pat Bowlen was joining him in the Broncos Ring of Fame, he paused in reflection on Wednesday. John Elway will forever be the face of the Broncos. However, Bowlen’s impact on the Broncos’ last three decades of excellence and two Super Bowl championships can’t be overstated.

“When you are playing, you kind of think all owners are the same. Then you realize the more you talk with people and get removed from the game, that it’s just not the case. As players we all felt like he did everything to help us win,” said Davis, elected to the Broncos Ring of Fame in 2007. “You could feel it, you could tell how much it meant to him. And we felt badly if we didn’t win. We didn’t want to let him down.”

What separated Bowlen was his ability to strike a balance. He was demanding, yet trusted his employees and players. It’s rare to see someone of his acumen and power not meddle.

“But he didn’t. He gave us all the resources and then left it up to us to do our jobs,” said Davis, who posted a 2,000-yard season with the Broncos. “I think at one point we had the largest coaching staff in the NFL. Obviously (coach) Mike (Shanahan) was a big part of that. But somebody had to rubberstamp it. And (Bowlen) was always there to to make it happen.”

Bowlen is scheduled to be honored on Nov. 1 when the Broncos host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football. Because of Bowlen’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease, it remains uncertain if he will attend. For Davis, Bowlen’s induction is personal. He will never forget Bowlen as the first person who called him after his ACL surgery during the 1999 season.

“He was more than just an owner. He was a confidant, a friend. When I needed him the most he was there,” Davis said. “There’s no one more deserving of the Ring of Fame than Mr. Bowlen.”

Broncos Rick of Fame receiver Rick Upchurch will announce the team’s second-round pick in the 2015 draft at Roosevelt University’s Auditorium Theater in Chicago on May 1.

Uprchuch will also take part in pre-draft festivities, with autograph signings and interviews.

Upchurch, who was selected by the Broncos in the fourth round (95th overall) in the 1975 draft, spent his entire career with Denver (1975-83) and was named to four Pro Bowls and five Associated Press All-Pro teams. He retired with 267 career receptions for 4,369 yards and 24 touchdowns, and 49 rushes for 349 yards and three scores. He also had 248 punt returns for 3,008 yards with eight touchdowns, a franchise record that tied Hall of Fame safety Jack Christiansen for the most in league history at the time.

This is the fifth year that NFL legends from the 32 teams will announce second-round draft selections.

John Elway swings at the pitch during the batting practice before the 1998 All Star Celebrity Home Run Derby at Coors Field on July 6, 1998, in Denver. (Brian Bahr, Getty Images)

Broncos’ general manager John Elway has been elected into the New York Penn League’s Hall of Fame, along with pitcher Randy Johnson and statistician Charlie Wride.

Elway is better known as a former Stanford quarterback who became the No. 1 overall pick of the Baltimore Colts in the 1983 NFL Draft and was soon traded to the Denver Broncos, where he went on to have a Pro Football Hall of Fame career.

But before earning money through football, Elway was selected in the second round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft as a left-handed hitting outfielder for the New York Yankees. In 1982, the summer between his junior and senior seasons at Stanford, Elway played for the Oneonta Yankees of the Class A New York Penn League. He hit .318 with four homers, 25 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 45 games.

Rick Upchurch, left, was finally elected to the Broncos’ Ring of Fame. (Denver Post file)

BRONCOS RING OF FAME SNUBS NO MOREWith one election swoop Tuesday, the Broncos corrected their most serious Ring of Fame oversights by voting in not only (Rick) Upchurch, but also former coach Dan Reeves and two-time American Football League scoring champion Gene Mingo.

“To look and feel slighted, I really didn’t feel that way or looked at it,” Upchurch said by conference call Tuesday. “I often looked at statistics and wondered why it took so long for me to get there when you look at everyone else’s statistics, but once again I don’t have control of that.”—Mike Klis, The Denver Post

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PEYTON MANNNING SAYS HE’S STILL RECOVERINGPeyton Manning made his fourth appearance on “The Late Show” with Dave Letterman on Monday and discussed everything from field mikes picking up his audibles to the Broncos’ Super Bowl blowout. But he also told Letterman that he’s still not fully recovered from the multiple surgeries on his neck.

Frank Tripucka, the first quarterback in Broncos history, a Ring of Famer and the first player to have his number retired by the team, died Thursday morning following a lengthy illness. He was 85.

Tripucka completed 10 of 15 passes in the Broncos’ first-ever game in 1960, a 13-10 victory against the Boston Patriots. Broncos general manager Bob Howsam, who later gained prominence in baseball as architect of Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine in the mid-1970s, retired Tripucka’s No. 18 following the quarterback’s retirement in 1963. Floyd Little (44) and John Elway (7) are the only other Bronco players to have their numbers retired.

While Peyton Manning, nattily attired in his new Broncos’ togs, will likely grace the cover of plenty of sports sections and magazines all over the football nation in the coming weeks and months, the Broncos gave former wide receiver Rod Smith the nod on the latest edition of their media guide.

Smith, who will be formally enshrined in the Broncos’ Ring of Fame Sept. 23, graces the cover of this year’s offering on a backdrop of an orange jersey. The team is also making the move back to orange jerseys this season as its primary option for home games.

At 52, Elway is in the third chapter of his adult life. Chapter 1 was his hall of fame career as a quarterback. Not even Peyton Manning can replace Elway as the greatest quarterback in Broncos history.

Chapter 2 was about the ups and downs of a retired player. A retired player whose ups and downs were played out in public.

In chapter 3, Elway was unfulfilled with his life of royalty to the point he daringly exchanged it for the scrutiny that comes with the role as the Broncos’ vice president of football operations.

So far so good. The Broncos went to the playoffs in his first year and picked up Peyton Manning for his second year.

Because in the current climate, with everybody seemingly talking about offense, about the growing list of wide receivers with 100-catch, 1,000-yard seasons compiled in an era when today’s 12-yard pass is yesterday’s draw play, defenders continue to find the Hall of Fame process a rocky ride.

Denver Broncos Media Services Manager Rebecca Villanueva displays a jersey with quarterback Peyton Manning's name and number before a news conference with Manning at the NFL Denver Broncos headquarters in Englewood, Colo., on Tuesday, March 20, 2012.

After talking personally with Frank Tripucka in the last half hour or so, new Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning will wear No. 18 in Denver.

The number had been retired since Tripucka retired in 1963.

“It’s perfectly OK for him to go ahead and use it,’’ Frank Tripucka said last week from his New Jersey home. “I would be honored to have him wear it.’’

Clinton Portis celebrates with a world heavyweight belt given to him by Shannon Sharpe after Portis scored five of the team's six TDs against the Chiefs on Dec. 7, 2003.

When Peyton Manning signs with Denver, he will immediately became the most significant free-agent catch in Broncos history. Here are the 10 biggest personnel moves in Broncos history prior to landing Manning.

1. Trade: In 1983, the Broncos changed the course of the team’s history when they sent guard Chris Hinton, quarterback Mark Herrmann and a first-round pick in the 1984 draft to the Colts for the rights to Stanford quarterback John Elway. The Colts eventually used that ’84 pick on guard Ron Solt, who played nine seasons in the league, a nice career. But three nice careers do not add up to one all-time great and two Super Bowl titles.

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.